With the new WhatsApp Business app arriving today, small companies can set
up their WhatsApp Business profiles by filling out information like a
business description, email, address and website.

WhatsApp says people will know when they’re talking to a business because
these accounts will be listed as “Business Accounts.” Over time, some of
these will become “Confirmed Accounts,” after WhatsApp verifies the account
phone number it registered with matches the business phone number.

Once established on the WhatsApp network, businesses can then use a series
of tools provided by the app, like smart messaging tools that offer similar
technology as what you’d find today in Facebook Messenger.

For now, the app is available only on Android devices, offering similar
features to those of Facebook Messenger. Some communicators might be
reluctant to add yet another digital service to their daily routines, but
the app could be pivotal in reaching key demographics.

TechCrunch
continued:

The company also indicated today how critical it is to address the needs of
businesses on its service, which now reaches 1.3 billion users. According
to data it cited from Morning Consult’s research, over 80 percent of small
businesses in India and Brazil said that WhatsApp helps them communicate
with customers and grow their businesses.

WhatsApp declined to say how many businesses are today active on its app,
when asked.

The app is intended to help communicators manage a torrent of messages.

More than
a billion people around the world fire up the messaging app every day, with a growing number
of people using the service to converse with businesses.

The Facebook-owned startup has decided to lend the smaller outfits a hand,
launching a new app called, would you believe, WhatsApp Business. Its main
goal is to improve the app’s ease of use for companies dealing with a large
number of WhatsApp messages on a daily basis.

On a landing page
for the product, WhatsApp promises business owners the ability to set
automatic away messages, maintain a public business profile and gain access
to messaging data.

Some business owners will focus on access and exposure to WhatsApp’s huge
customer base. Others might turn to WhatsApp as new channel as older
methods of reaching customers—such as Facebook’s News Feed—dry up.

WhatsApp also offers an in-depth version of Twitter’s verified checkmark.

A Business account with a grey checkmark badge in its profile, meanwhile,
has been confirmed to be using a phone number that matches the phone number
of the business it claims to be owned and operated by.

A Business account with a grey question mark badge in its profile, however,
indicates that the account hasn’t been confirmed or verified by WhatsApp.

You should, therefore, be wary if a Business account with a grey badge in
its profile tries to contact you, even it appears to be associated with a
company you know.

Though limited (for now) to the U.S. and a few other countries, it will
eventually reach its worldwide database.

2. Customers must opt in to talk to businesses.

Robles wrote:

Businesses using WhatsApp Business won't be able to contact WhatsApp users
at their leisure. Instead, users must opt in to receive communications from
a business. This means that businesses wanting to put the messaging
platform to good use will need to develop marketing and engagement
strategies that promote such opt-in.

3. Businesses should expect to pay for the service.

Robles wrote:

Last year, WhatsApp chief operating officer, Matt Idema,
told the Wall Street Journal that the company eventually plans to launch paid features for businesses.
Idema did not reveal what those paid features might be but it's logical to
assume that, at least initially, WhatsApp will target paid features to
larger enterprises that are more likely to pay for such features.

What do you think, Ragan/PR Daily readers? How might WhatsApp augment
your engagement and messaging strategies?